Copilot Chat is a generative AI assistant available to University of Manchester students through your University account.
Manchester’s partnership with Microsoft is intended to give students consistent access to AI tools across the University and help build the skills needed to use them effectively in study and future work.
You can use it to ask questions, explore ideas and support your learning.
Always read and check Copilot’s outputs carefully, and use your own knowledge and judgement.
For sign-in, access or technical problems, contact IT help and support.
Check your assessment brief and the information for your unit in Canvas first.
If you are still unsure, contact your Unit Lead or teaching team.
The Library provides guidance on using generative AI, checking information, academic integrity and referencing.
Yes. Copilot Chat is already available to University of Manchester students.
To get started, open Copilot Chat and sign in with your University account.
If you have trouble signing in or accessing Copilot Chat, follow the student sign-in and access checks first. These will cover the common account and access steps before you need technical support.
No - Copilot Chat is the AI chat experience currently available to students through their University account.
The wider licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot experience provides additional AI capabilities within Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Outlook and Teams.
You do not need a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence to use Copilot Chat.
Copilot Chat is provided and supported by the University through your University account.
Other AI tools may be self-service rather than University-supported. This means the University may not provide technical support for them, and they may handle information differently. Always follow University guidance and your assessment instructions.
It depends on the assessment. Always check your assessment brief first.
Every assessment is assigned an AI category explaining what use of AI is allowed.
You remain responsible for the work you submit and for following the instructions for your assessment.
If anything is unclear, ask your Unit Lead or teaching team.
Not automatically.
AI can produce information that sounds convincing but is inaccurate, incomplete or fabricated. It can also reflect bias.
Check important claims and sources yourself and use your own knowledge and judgement.
Ask questions or ask for an idea or difficult concept to be explained in another way.
Create practice questions that you can use to check your knowledge.
Use Copilot Chat as one tool to help you revisit information or organise notes and ideas you have already developed.
Ask yourself:
For assessed work, always check your assessment instructions first.
AI can support learning, but what is appropriate depends on what you are doing.
For assessed work, always check your assessment brief first.
You must not use AI for this assessment.
You may use AI only in limited ways that support presentation, such as grammar, fluency or formatting, without changing your ideas, arguments or conclusions.
You may use AI to complete the assessment within the limits set out in the assessment brief.
AI use is required to meet the assessment's learning outcomes.
This does not mean every kind of AI use is acceptable.
Using AI is optional unless an assessment is AI-Integrated.
You remain responsible for the quality and accuracy of the work you submit.
If you use AI, follow the instructions in your assessment brief about declaring or referencing your use.
If anything is unclear, ask your Unit Lead or teaching team.
Before using AI in assessed work, make sure you understand the AI guidance for your assessment and the University’s AI in Teaching and Learning Policy.
Be clear if and how you have used AI.
You are responsible for the work you produce and submit, even if AI has helped you.
Use AI critically and understand its limitations, including bias and inaccuracy.
Use AI ethically and legally, including protecting privacy and respecting copyright.
Consider fairness, inclusivity and the wider impacts of how you use AI.
Watch this video to learn more about the student guidance covering responsible use, checking outputs and keeping human judgement at the centre.
Be careful what information you share with AI tools, particularly personal, sensitive or confidential information. Also think before uploading or pasting material created by someone else, such as journal articles, book chapters, datasets or images, as copyright may apply.
When you use Microsoft 365 through your University account, your data remains under the University’s control. Microsoft processes it to provide and support the service and does not use University content for advertising, profiling or other secondary purposes.
Copilot works within the existing Microsoft 365 environment and respects the same permissions and access controls.
Other AI tools may handle information differently. Always follow University guidance and your assessment instructions before sharing information or material with an AI tool.
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